List of Classes of Drugs Commonly Used Off-Label

In the United States, FDA permits doctors to prescribe approved medications for off-label use.

Drugs are often used in ways different from the FDA-approved drug label and this is said to be off-label drug use. The FDA approved label describes the medical condition the drug can be used to treat, the approved doses and other information about the drug. When a drug is used off-label:

It may be used to treat a different medical condition.

It may be administered in a different way.

Drug may be given in a different dose than the approved one.

Even though off-label use of drugs is legal in the US and many other countries, it is unapproved use of a drug. Thus, use of Viagra for enhancing sexual performance is off-label use of the drug and so is the use of cancer drugs for treating a different type of cancer than that it is approved for.

Viral infections, such as common cold or flu, against which antibiotics are useless

Anxiety drugs

To ease “normal” life stresses, as sleep aids

Proton Pump Inhibitors (for gastroesophageal reflux disease)

Occasional heartburn, indigestion, irritable bowel

Beta-Blockers (for high blood pressure and heart disease)

Migraines, heart rhythm disorders, anxiety

Drugs to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

For people not diagnosed with ADHD, to enhance alertness and concentration

Insomnia medicines/“Sleeping Pills”

For people with infrequent insomnia, insomnia associated with depression, anxiety

Narcotic pain relievers

For people with only mild, infrequent pain

Sometimes, drugs with multiple uses might have to wait for years before getting FDA approval for all its different uses. Off-label prescriptions allow doctors and patients to use these drugs and benefit from them. A classic example is the use of a class of drugs called as beta-blockers approved for use for treating high blood pressure. Researchers and doctors were convinced that this drug could be used against heart attacks and this was prescribed off-label for the same. Large-scale clinical trials and results have demonstrated the benefit off-label use of beta-blockers, proving that the doctors were right.

Similarly, statins, with FDA approval for reducing cholesterol levels and reducing heart attacks were given to people with diabetes to reduce risk of heart disease. This was off-label use of the drug since it is only recently that statins have been found to prevent heart attacks in people with diabetes.